WATCH: Kenny McIntosh gets emotional over Seattle Seahawks draft call
Kenny McIntosh had to wait longer than he hoped to hear his name called during the 2023 NFL Draft, but there’s no doubt he didn’t mind in the end. The Seattle Seahawks made McIntosh their last selection of the draft with the No. 237 overall pick on Saturday.
McIntosh was the tenth Georgia player to be selected in the 2023 NFL Draft joining Jalen Carter (Eagles), Broderick Jones (Steelers), Nolan Smith (Eagles), Darnell Washington (Steelers), Stetson Bennett (Rams), Christopher Smith (Raiders), Robert Beal (49ers) and Warren McClendon (Rams). Jack Podlesny (Vikings) and Kearis Jackson (Titans) also signed undrafted free agent deals after the conclusion of Saturday’s seventh round.
Georgia’s 10 players picked tied them with Alabama for the most among any school in the country while the Bulldogs’ 25 over the last two drafts, as well as their 34 over the last three, is tops in the nation.
Seahawks general manager John Schneider tells McIntosh on the call, “You’re too talented to be sitting here right now.” McIntosh agrees as he says, ‘Yes sir. I know that man.” McIntosh compiled over 1,000 total yards this past season at Georgia as he ran for a team-high 829 yards on 150 carries while also hauling in 43 passes for 504 yards, third best on the team. McIntosh totaled 12 touchdowns.
After his call with Schnieder, head coach Pete Carroll and company, McIntosh hopped on with Seahawks media where he went through almost every emotion you could imagine.
“Ah (explicitive), I’ve been waiting all day. What you mean how I feel?,” McIntosh said through tears of joy. “I always heard there was going to be some team that you never talked to as much like that, but you at least suspect it. Man, I talked to them before, but I wasn’t expecting them to be honestly.”
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“My whole family. We’ve all been sitting waiting here. We’ve all been sitting waiting … I just thank God I got drafted. I didn’t have to go the free agent route. You know what I’m saying? So, thank God I got drafted.”
McIntosh added that with the longer wait, he’s got something to prove. However, that’s not a new feeling to him. He felt that way when he arrived at Georgia as a running back ranked outside the top-10 in the country and just barely cracking the top-200 overall in a room full of much more highly touted guys as recruits.
“Definitely I got something to prove man,” McIntosh said. “I’ve been feeling like this since I got to college. Going to Georgia I had something to prove man. This ain’t nothing new. Bring it on. I’m just ready for the challenge … I’m going to prove a point like I did at Georgia man. Same thing. It might take time, but I’m going to prove my point for sure. They going to know who Kenny McIntosh is.”
McIntosh was the second running back drafted by the Seahawks in this year’s draft class and third in two years. UCLA star Zach Charbonnet went to Seattle in the second round just a year after the Seahawks used a second rounder on Kenneth Walker III, 2021 winner of the Doak Walker Award for college football’s top running back and an unanimous All-American. Walker also won Walter Camp Player of the Year before a strong rookie campaign that saw him rush for 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns. He was named to the Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team. DeeJay Dallas is also under contract with the Seahawks after carrying the ball 35 times for 186 yards, also adding 17 catches for another 126 receiving.
